Login and Registration Issues

Why can’t I login?

First, check that your username and password are correct. Another common mistake is leaving the Caps Lock key on for your password. If you haven't been suspended or banned from the board for misconduct, contact the board Administrator for further assistance. It is also possible the website could be undergoing maintenance. An announcement is usually posted if that is the case.

After login, you will only stay logged in for limited time (set by the Administrator). This is a preventative measure to reduce the chance of having your account accessed by anyone else. To stay logged in, check the Log me in automatically box during login. This is not recommended if you access the board from a shared computer, e.g. library, internet cafe, university computer lab, etc. If you do not see this checkbox, it means this feature has been disabled.

Within your "Account Settings," under the “Board preferences” tab, you will find the option Hide your online status. Enable this option to Yes. Note: You will be counted as a "hidden" user to everyone with the exception of Administrators and Moderators.

Don’t panic! While your password cannot be retrieved, it can easily be reset. Visit the login page and click I’ve forgotten my password. Follow the instructions and you should be able to log in again shortly.

First, check your username and password. If they are correct, then one of two things may have happened. If COPPA support is enabled and you specified being under 13 years old during registration, you will have to follow the instructions you received. Some boards will also require new registrations to be activated, either by yourself or by an administrator before you can logon; this information was present during registration. If you were sent an e-mail, follow the instructions. If you did not receive an e-mail, you may have provided an incorrect e-mail address or the e-mail may have been picked up by a spam filer. If you are sure the e-mail address you provided is correct, try contacting an administrator.

Try to locate the e-mail sent to you when you first registered, check your username and password and try again. If the account has been inactive for a long period of time, it is possible that it could have been deleted to reduce the size of the database. If this has happened, try registering again and contact the administrator.

COPPA, or the Child Online Privacy and Protection Act of 1998, is a law in the United States requiring websites which can potentially collect information from minors under the age of 13 to have written parental consent or some other method of legal guardian acknowledgment, allowing the collection of personally identifiable information from a minor under the age of 13. If you are unsure if this applies to you as someone trying to register or to the website you are trying to register on, contact legal counsel for assistance. Please note that the phpBB Group cannot provide legal advice and is not a point of contact for legal concerns of any kind, except as outlined below.

Have you been banned or suspended for misconduct? If not, please contact the Administrator. Registration could also have been disabled for a short period of time if it is undergoing some construction. Read the forum Announcements for the latest details.

“Delete all board cookies” deletes the cookies stored in your web browser cache which helps keep you authenticated and logged in. It also serves to keep track of posts that you have read/unread. If you are having login or logout problems, deleting board cookies may help.

User Preferences and Settings

Why is the Vietnam "Communist" Country Flag displayed?

We understand the political controversy surrounding the usage between the pre and post-1976 Vietnamese flag. To be clear, the Country Flag displaying on user accounts have NO implications on the user or VietsToday.com's political stance; for or against any political party. It is merely a factual image of the most current official flag. The flags displayed here are no different than the national flags listed in today's encyclopedias. Harassing members on the basis of their selected country flag will not be tolerated.

After registration, all your settings are stored in the board's database. To change your settings, click on Account Settings (link located upper left). From there, you can alter your account settings and preferences.

It is possible the time displayed is from a timezone different from the one you are in. If this is the case, go to your Account Settings and change your timezone to match your particular area (e.g. London, Paris, New York, Sydney, etc).

If you are sure you have set the timezone and Summer Time/DST correctly and the time is still incorrect, then the time stored on the server clock is incorrect. Please notify an administrator to correct the problem.

There are 3 types of Ranks that generally exist as part of your main profile: 1) Team Rank: A default rank (image) may appear for different VietsToday groups (i.e. Administrators, Moderators, Donators, etc.) 2) Member Rank: A rank automatically assigned based on how long you've been a member on VietsToday.com. 3) Post Rank: Ranks assigned based on the number of posts made by you. Generally, Post Ranks are discouraged (or even disabled) because it entices members to post unncessarily just to increase their rank. Like most forums, we do not tolerate this behavior and will reset the user's post count, or even ban them if the offense is repeated.

Only registered users can send e-mail to other users via the built-in e-mail form, and only if the administrator has enabled this feature. This is to prevent malicious use of the e-mail system by anonymous users.

Posting Issues

What is "spam?"

Spam (or "spamming") is an internet term for the blatent advertising scheme subjected on users without their (or the website's) permission. This includes (but not exclusive to) registering on the board with the sole purpose of advertising your business or company via posts, private messages, and/or emails. In relation to an online forum, spamming is also the act of repetatively posting the same or similar message (valuable or not) throughout multiple forums. Spamming may result in account suspension, deletion, and/or banning without warning.

Flaming is the hostile and insulting comments between members in an online community. A flame response to a post or other users is generally not constructive, does not clarify a discussion, and does not persuade others. The main premise behind a flame response is to attack the poster, not the product, idea, or the topic of conversation. Flamers who intend to upset or offend other members in the forum are referred to as "trolls." There is a fine line between passionately debating an issue, and outright attacking another user. Use tact when posting, and please keep the flaming down to a minimum. If need be, take the argument off the forums and discuss the issue privately off the boards (i.e. PM, emails, Instant Messengers, etc.). Flame responses may be removed at our discretion and is not a debatable issue. Reposting flames or disregarding warnings from our Mods or Admins to tone down on the flaming may result in account suspension, deletion, and/or banning without notice.

A troll (or "trolling") is an internet term describing someone who intentionally posts controversial or abrasive messages in an online community (i.e. a forum or chatroom) with the intention of baiting users into an argumentative response or flaming. Trolling may result in account suspension, deletion, and/or banning without warning.

To post a new topic in a forum, click the "New Topic" button. There are a couple sections of the forum that exclusive to Admins and/or Mods post only. A list of board permissions in each forum is viewable at the bottom left of the forum and topic screens. Example: "You can post new topics." "You can edit your own posts."

You can edit or delete your own posts if the board Administrator has enabled this feature. Otherwise it is a function exclusive only to Admins and Mods. To edit your own post, simply go to your post, and click on the Edit button. If someone has already replied to the post, a text output will appear on the edited post, showing the number of times it has been edited, including date and time. If a Moderator or Administrator edited a post, no text output will appear, although they have the option to leave a reason for editing at their own discretion. Note: Registered users cannot delete a post once someone has replied to it.

To add a signature, go to Account Settings. Click on your "Profile" tab, then go to "Edit Signature" to create a signature. In Account Settings, go to the "Board preferences" tab -> "Edit posting default," then select either "yes" or "no" for "Attach my signature by default." At the bottom of each post, there is a checkbox for you to manually select/deselect your signature when you post. Limitations of BBcodes, Smilies, or images that you can put in your signature are set by the board Administrator.

Currently, only Admins and Mods can create official Polls. If you have a poll suggestion, please submit one in the Suggestion Box forum. An Admin or Mod will review your poll submission, and will post it if it is acceptable.

Because you've been very naughty! Please review the board rules and proper etiquette if you wish to continue being a part of our forums. Please do not take these warnings as a personal attack and harass the Admin or Mod who have given you the warning. Doing so may advance your situation to being suspended or permanently banned.

By clicking the “Bump topic” link when viewing your own topic, you can “bump” the discussion thread to the top of its forum. If there has been no replies to a post, a minimum of 7 days must pass before the option to bump the topic becomes available. It is also possible to bump the topic simply by replying to it, but it's generally bad etiquette to do so. Doing it frequently just to get attention is not accepted.

Formatting and Topic Types

What is BBCode?

BBCode is a special implementation of HTML. BBCode itself is similar in style to HTML, but tags are enclosed in square brackets [ and ] rather than < and >. For more information on BBCode see the guide which can be accessed from the posting page.

Do you live under a rock?! Anyway, Smilies (or Emoticons), are small images used to express a feeling using a short code, e.g. :) denotes happy, while :( denotes sad. The full list of Smilies can be seen in the posting form. Do not abuse the use of Smilies because excess usage can slow a board down.

Yes, images can be shown in your posts. If the administrator has allowed attachments, you may be able to upload the image to the board. Otherwise, you must link to an image stored on a publicly accessible web server, e.g. http://www.example.com/my-picture.gif. You cannot link to pictures stored on your own PC (unless it is a publicly accessible server) nor images stored behind authentication mechanisms, e.g. hotmail or yahoo mailboxes, password protected sites, etc. To display the image use the BBCode [img] tag.

Global announcements contain important information (such as warnings or notifications) that is considered "High priority" and should be paid attention to whenever possible. They will appear at the top of every forum and within your Account Settings.

Sticky topics within the forum appear below announcements and only on the first page. Like Global Announcements, and Announcements, a Sticky topic also contains important information recommended for all users to read.

Locked topics are topics where users can no longer reply to. Topics may be locked for many reasons, and can only be locked by either the Moderator or Administrator. Some of the common reasons my be: going off topic, excessive flaming between members, or topic relevancy has expired. Depending on board permissions set by the Administrator, you may also lock your own topics.

User Levels and Groups

What are Founders?

Founders are the creators of the VietsToday.com and has the highest level of control over the entire website. They are also interchangeably referred to as Administrators. Only one Founder exists on VietsToday.com, and if you know who that is, you'll get a cookie... stored in your cache. (Computer nerd joke!)

Administrators are members assigned with the second to highest level of control over the entire board. This generally includes setting permissions, banning users, creating usergroups or Moderators, etc. Administrator limitations are dependent upon the permissions set by the Founder. The Founder is also considered as an Administrator.

Moderators are members who have the authority to edit or delete posts and lock, unlock, move, delete and split topics in the forum they moderate. They are here to help you, organize the forums, and assist in resolving internal conflicts. They are gracious enough to volunteer their time and help keep VietsToday.com a welcoming place, so please appreciate their efforts. Any personal problems with a Moderator should be directly reported to an Administrator rather than making a topic about it.

If there is a need for more Moderators (Mods), then they will be selected by the Admin. A member's all-time behavior and positive contributions to the board are key qualities we look for. Just be yourself. When the time comes when we will need additional Mods, you may be personally contacted. In other words: don't call us, we'll call you. ;)

Simple. Either donate $100,000,000 or submit several nude photos of yourself to the Founder. Just kidding (you don't have to donate). If additional Admins are needed, one will be selected by the Founder based on forum experience, reliability, ability to walk on hot coal, glass eating, and signing your soul away to the Founder. As Uncle Ben-Nguyen once said, "With great power comes great responsibility." Okay, fine, we're kidding about the nude photos too. :P

Usergroups are members grouped together in relation to their roles in the VietsToday.com community (e.g. Administrators, Moderators, Registered Users, etc.). Usergroups may also distinguish members who have made donations to the website. It's possible for a member to be in more than one group. Certain groups may also have different permissions in the forums. Another use for Usergroups is that it provides a practical way for Administrators to change permissions for multiple accounts at once.

You can view all Usergroups via the “Usergroups” link within your Account Settings. If you would like to join one, proceed by clicking the appropriate button. If the group is open, you can join it. However, not all groups are open to the public because certain criteria are set by the Administrator. Some groups require approval to join or may even be hidden. Depending on the group, the Usergroup leader may ask why you want to join the group before accepting you. Please do not harass a group leader if they reject your request.

A Usergroup leader is usually assigned by the Administrator. If you are interested in creating a Usergroup, please submit a request in the Suggestion Box forum. Do not contact or badger the Administrators or Moderators if your group is not approved.

If you belong to more than one Usergroup, the Administrator will set your Default group to determine which group color, group rank, and forum permissions are available to you. Depending on the Administrator, you may have the option to change your default Usergroup via your Account Settings. Administrator may also change your default group at any time without notice.

Members who have donated to VietsToday.com are switched to new usergroups (Bronze, Silver, or Gold) as their default group.
Bronze: An exclusive group for members who have donated a lifetime total of $5-$49 to VietsToday.com.
Silver: An exclusive group for members who have donated a lifetime total of $50-$99 to VietsToday.com.
Gold: An exclusive group for members who have donated a lifetime total of $100 or more to VietsToday.com.
Note: If you wish to be discrete about your donations (remove Bronze Supporters as your default group), please contact the Administrator.

Private Messaging

I cannot send private messages!

There are three reasons for this: 1) You are not registered and/or not logged on. 2) The board Administrator has disabled private messaging for the entire board. 3) The Administrator has disabled private messaging on your account. Email a board administrator for more information if you have not been warned for any misconduct in the forums.

You can block a user from sending you private messages by using message rules within your Account Settings. If you are receiving abusive private messages from a particular user, inform the Administrator immediately! Keep your private messages as proof so that they can be forwarded to proper authorities and proper forum actions can be taken.

I have received a spamming or abusive e-mail from someone on this board!

The e-mail feature of this board includes safeguards to try and track users who send such posts, so e-mail the Administrator a full copy of the offending e-mail that was sent to you. It is very important that you include the headers that contain the details of the user that sent the e-mail. The Administrator can then take proper action and contact the authorities.

Friends and Ignore

What are my Friends and Ignore lists?

Members added to your Friends list will be listed within your Account Settings for quick access to see their online status and to send Private Messages.
If you add a member to your Ignore list, the contents of their posts will appear "hidden." You have the option to click and view the hidden posts at any time. You can also set up filters in your Private Message inbox to automatically delete messages sent by users on your Ignore list.

You can add users to your list in two ways:
1) On each member’s profile, there is a link to add them as a Friend or Ignore.
2) From your Account Settings, you can directly add users by entering the member's username. You may also remove users from your list using the same page.

Your own posts can be retrieved by clicking the “Search user’s posts” within the Account Settings or via your own profile page. To search for your topics, use the Advanced Search page and fill in the search criteria appropriately.

Topic Subscriptions and Bookmarks

What is the difference between bookmarking and subscribing?

Bookmarking is much like bookmarking in your web browser. You aren’t alerted when someone replies to the post, but it allows you to keep track of it. Subscribing will notify you when someone replies to the topic or forum you have subscribed to. How you are notified depends on the options you selected in your Account Settings.

To subscribe to a specific forum, click the “Subscribe forum” link upon entering the forum. To subscribe to a topic, reply to the topic with the subscribe checkbox checked or click the “Subscribe topic” link within the topic itself.

Legal Issues

Who do I contact about abusive and/or legal matters related to this board?

Any of the Administrators listed on the “VT Staff” page should be an appropriate point of contact for your complaints. Please note that the phpBB Group has absolutely no jurisdiction and cannot in any way be held liable over how, where or by whom this board is used. Do not contact the phpBB Group in relation to any legal (cease and desist, liable, defamatory comment, etc.) matter not directly related to the phpBB.com website or the discrete software of phpBB itself. If you do e-mail phpBB Group about any third party use of this software then you should expect a terse response or no response at all.